Meeting of the Fallen
by GlaringEyes
Summary: Pre-Homecoming. Follow Josh Shepherd's gradual descent into darkness as he meets a long-lost family relative and other fallen souls. From his death to the events with Alex in SH:H. UNDER RE-EDITION!
1. Awakening

****As a survival-horror games fan, I'm particularly fond of the Silent Hill series. And after reading many SH fanfics, I've noticed very, very few explore the possibility of Mary Shepherd-Sunderland (from SH2) being a relative of Alex and Josh Shepherd (from SHH). So I came up with this idea of a SH side-story, preceding the events of SHH, describing Josh's course from his death until Alex's return to Shepherd's Glen.****

**Got inspiration from the fanfic "Trust Me" by hexterah.**

**Reviews would be highly appreciated, be it praises, suggestions, corrections or criticisms (constructive ones of course).**

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

I will use the following typing standards:

"Normal speech"

'Inner thoughts'

"YELLING!"

_Written passages, Josh's inner voice_

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 01 – AWAKENING<strong>

Cold. That's all he could feel, cold. Over his entire body. The type of cold someone would feel when submerged in chilly water. He couldn't feel his limbs, his neck, his breathing, not even see or hear anything as it was all dark and silent around. He could pretty much be dead as well.

'Where am I?' the only thought in his mind. 'What happened?'

He didn't for know how long he had stayed in this condition. It could have been minutes, days, maybe years ever since the last thing he remembered: himself and his older brother Alex, on a rowboat in the middle of Toluca Lake, despite their father's orders not to go there. He recalled feeling afraid of the place, at which Alex had taunted him, calling him a 'little baby'. He had bickered with his brother as he showed him the ring given by their father, and tried to fetch it back when Alex took it from him. But that was it. What happened afterwards was a blur in his mind.

Josh wanted out of this place. It was scary, but there was nothing he could do. His body wasn't even moving, as though his soul was trapped inside a statue. The only option he had was to wait and hope it would be over anytime soon.

Suddenly, he felt something different. Something hard on his back. Uncomfortable, but at least it meant he had his sense of touch back. Then he heard the sounds of wavering water. His sense of hearing was back too. So that meant...

He slowly opened his eyes and gave them time to get used to the light again. A dim-lighted sky loomed over him, blurred by a thick mist. Turning his head to the right, he saw a great body of water, its tiny waves breaking on the shoreline. That's when he finally realized: he was lying on his back, on Toluca Lake's shore. It had to be, since that was the last place he recalled being at.

Sitting down from his laying position, Josh checked his own body. He was still wearing the same clothes as that last memory: an orange T-shirt, brown shorts and gray sneakers. If his clothes were still there, then not much time had passed since the boat ride, concluded him.

He glanced to his left. There was a site resembling an amusement park. You could notice it by the surrounding kiosks and the roller coaster tracks. He liked amusement parks, but has never been to one until now. At most, he'd gone to his hometown's anniversary festival, given his parents were too overprotective to let him out of Shepherd's Glen. It was boring, but it was the best someone could expect in a small town like his. Curiosity taking over him, the boy stood up and went towards it. Maybe someone there could help him to home.

However, as entering the park, Josh couldn't help but feel the eerie atmosphere there. The fog still blurred everything, the place seemed utterly neglected, but mainly, it was completely deserted. No living soul on sight there. Josh stopped near a particular kiosk which displayed some Robbie the Rabbit plush toys, a character he's always been a fan of. He stared at them and, for a second, thought of snatching one, since nobody was around. But then, he remembered his parent's teachings of '_stealing is wrong, no matter what, where and when_' and shoved the thought aside.

When approaching the merry-go-round, the boy sensed something strange. The eerie feeling was stronger there than in the entire park. A nauseous sensation came to him.

Backing away from said attraction, he headed to a bench near the teacups. He sat down there, staring down at the ground. As he did, he noticed some dried red dots splattered around. 'Blood? Did someone get hurt here?' he wondered, a bit shocked. First it was the lake, then the merry-go-round, now the bloodstains. 'What's wrong with this place? It's as though something really bad had happened here.' He nervously questioned, not able to understand why this place felt so gloomy.

Josh gave the whole situation some thinking. What was going on? Why was he here? In a moment, he was with Alex on a boat in the middle of the lake, and a moment later, he was here in this abandoned park. Perhaps he had fallen from the boat and drifted away to the shore. But if that was the case, wouldn't Alex and his father be searching for him? He sparred a glance to the lake (which still could be sighted from inside the park) and saw no boats there.

Another thing the boy had noticed was that he wasn't scared at all. Normally a 9-years-old would be crying and calling for mommy just at being alone in a creepy place like that. But why wasn't he? Didn't he always sleep with a flashlight due to fear of the darkness? He looked around the park, but surprisingly couldn't be afraid of it. On the contrary, this place even gave a strange feeling of familiarity, as if himself was a part of it. He couldn't explain it though, despite him being quite smart for a kid (at least, that was what his father always told him).

After awhile, he got bored and concluded nothing would be achieved just by sitting there. He headed to the exit; maybe he could get any help outside. After leaving the amusement park, he followed Toluca Lake's shoreline, hopping someone would spot him from afar, or to find somewhere else, populated preferentially. The boy continued to walk, always glancing around in case a boat or a person appeared, but nothing came, neither from the lake nor from land. It was getting late and he wondered how his family was doing now. His parents and Alex were probably worried sick by now.

He walked for a few minutes until he saw what looked like a sightseeing platform. Probably the type of place tourists would go to admire Toluca Lake and take pictures. Josh also loved photography and almost regretted not having his camera with him right now. He even recalled those times when he had taken pictures of his family and friends, sometimes in awkward situations (which ended up in a good scolding, unless it had been his parents). But it was no time for that; he needed to go home.

At the site's entrance, a plate hung over. '_Rosewater Park_' it read. 'Never heard of it.' He admitted. Anyway it was a beautiful place, with arboreous squares and rather well-maintained bricked columns, despite the eerie and ever-present fog. The boy headed to the waterfront fence and followed it along, expecting to find someone there. And someone he found...

Leaning on the fence, a few feet after an abandoned hotdog kiosk, a young lady admired the lake. She looked in mid-twenties, with shoulder-length auburn hair and was wearing a pink blouse and a white-and-pink polka-dotted skirt. Josh rushed towards her, intending to ask for aid, but before he could speak anything, the woman had already acknowledged his presence.

"Hello, Josh..."

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for the first chapter. A rather small one, but it's just the introduction. Next one will be longer.<strong>

**Did you catch the SH3 references on this chapter (hint: watch SH3 normal ending)? I may reference to other SH games futurely as well.**

**Please review and comment what you think of the plot.**


	2. Family

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 02 – FAMILY<strong>

If Josh had claimed he wasn't freaked out by an unknown lady in an unknown place calling him by the name, he'd be lying.

"Uh, hello," he stammered back, trying to sort out his mind. "Sorry, ma'am... how do you know me?" he nervously asked.

The woman took a few steps towards him and knelt down to his height. "Don't you recognize me?" she asked, in a kind tone. Josh shook his head.

"Well, I thought you wouldn't. You were still a baby the last time I've seen you." She smiled, placing her hand over the boy's head. Somehow, this gesture rendered Josh a bit more comfortable. That lady seemed nice, but he still eyed her in confusion.

"My name's Mary. I'm you father's sister." She explained.

The boy's eyes widened. 'So, she's Mary? Aunt Mary?' he mentally concluded. Her name wasn't unfamiliar to him. As he previously said, he was too young to have any memories of her and his parents had never commented about her. But Alex had, once. Josh recalled of Alex telling him about an aunt, whom he really cherished and missed ever since she got married and moved away. So she's the one his brother had talked about.

"Now I remember. My brother told me about you." Josh remarked.

"Really?" the woman kindly asked, happy that she wasn't a total stranger to the boy. "And how's Alex doing? It's been a while since I last heard of him too."

Confirming that she knew his brother's name, he finally felt he could trust the lady. "He's fine. But he says he misses you sometimes. He says you and Elle were the only people who were nice to him." He answered, honestly as a child.

Mary's smile faded a bit by hearing that. Even after this long, she still remembered her family. She recalled of the harsh treatment her brother gave to Alex, which only got worse after Josh was born. Many times she had tried to intercede in Alex's favor, but it had done no good, since Adam wasn't very fond of someone else prying into the raise of his children. And she couldn't count on her sister-in-law Lilian either, as she was the type to never oppose her husband. The only thing she could do was treating little Alex the nicest she could when Adam wasn't around. That was, until she got married and moved away to South Ashfield. Despite never having kids of her own (more due to the fact that she had never got the chance), she had never stopped worrying about what became of her brother's children. No surprise that her older nephew missed her.

Anyway she wouldn't bring any of those sore thoughts into talk now.

"That's good to know," she said. "And you, Josh? What are you doing here in Silent Hill?"

The young Shepherd's eyes widened again. He was in Silent Hill? The town his father had expressly forbidden to get any close to? Now he was in trouble!

"Aunt Mary, is this Silent Hill?" he asked, just to confirm.

"Yes, we're on the Rosewater Park, one of main landmarks in Silent Hill. Didn't you know?" she replied, a bit baffled at the boy's question.

"Oh, no! Dad's gonna get really angry with me! And with Alex too, when he comes looking for me! Dad told us to never come here!" a rather despaired Josh shouted.

"Alex's here too? You mean you both came here without your parents' permission?" Mary questioned, but still keeping her calm tone.

"Alex wanted to go to Toluca Lake, so he took Dad's boat and forced me to come. I told him it was a bad idea, but he didn't listen." He said, trying to justify himself.

"You came in a boat?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "But it's dangerous to sail there without proper experience. What were you two doing out in the lake?"

"Well," the boy started, trying to remember what had passed on the boat. "Alex said I was afraid of everything and I said it wasn't true. Then he continued to mock me and I showed him a ring Dad gave me," he continued, taking the mentioned ring out of his pocket and showing it to Mary. "Then Alex took it from me and I tried to fetch it back..." he said, stretching the ring's chain with his hands. He paused for a moment, as if trying to recall the rest.

"So, sweetie, what happened afterwards?" she asked, urging him to proceed.

"I don't remember quite right, but," he stated, seeming unsure of what to say. "Then I kinda felt cold, very cold. My body went numb in some dark, silent place and then, the next thing I remember was me lying on the lake's shore, near the amusement park." He finished.

Josh waited for a few instants, staring down at the ground, like expecting a scold. But nothing came, so he gazed up at her.

This time, it was Mary's turn to have her eyes widened. She stared at Josh as though she was shocked by something. He lifted an eyebrow, confused. Her smile had faded into a frown, as she knew way too well what had happened to the nephew before her. After all, she had herself passed through the same thing years ago. The cold, the numbness, the darkness, the silence, the awakening in this town... all pointed towards one single thing.

_Death_.

And not just any death. It had been a violent death. And worse, by a trusted one's hand. She should have suspected it from the beginning, otherwise the boy wouldn't have been able to see her. Heck, he wouldn't even be here. Had it been a natural death, the soul simply would have been put to rest in peace. However, if the responsible for the death still felt any sort of guilt or remorse, so the town would reawaken the soul and demand atonement through it, even if by the means of blood. Those were the rules of Silent Hill.

With a saddened face, the woman kept staring at Josh. 'This poor little kid. And I thought I have died at a young age,' she remembered her own demise. 'And Alex, too. To think that he will have to go through the same kind of suffering James did. As if he hadn't suffered enough through his entire life.'

"Aunt Mary, are you okay?" the boy asked, wondering about her lost expression.

Cut off from her thoughts, she answered. "Yes, sweetie, I am. Just pondering about some things."

Thinking for a few more seconds, as Josh stayed silent, she spoke.

"Josh, could you come with me for a moment? There is someone I need you to meet." She said, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"But, Auntie, I've gotta go home. Dad will be mad if I don't." He responded.

"Don't worry, sweetie. It'll be quick, I promise." She assured. Of course, she was pretty much aware that her nephew no longer had a home to return to. He was dead after all, and Silent Hill was his new home. But she decided not to tell him forth, it would be better to let that 'someone' tell it. Josh would eventually have to learn of it anyway.

"OK, Auntie. I'll go." He complied. He had always been a good kid, as his parents had raised him to be.

Mary smiled again and stood up from her kneeling position. She turned around and, motioning him to follow her, started walking away, Josh in tow. As they left the park, their course went along a narrow alley with some trash dumpsters. Leaving the alley, they arrived at what looked like a residential area, full of apartment buildings. What never changed was the ever-present fog, almost seeming to pursue them wherever they went. The boy wondered about that strange phenomenon, given they were far enough from the lake.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at a huge wall, passing through a door on it. Inside it, there was a rather large building, made in white wooden planks, with a porch and a oval-shaped entrance door. 'Looks like Mayor Bartlett's mansion.' Josh thought. Said mayor's son, Joey Bartlett, was Josh's best friend (besides Alex) and many times he had been invited to play in the mansion. After all, Joey was known to always have the coolest toys in the neighborhood.

As they entered it, the boy realized it was indeed a mansion. The place was quite neat, despite seeming deserted. They walked up the stairs to the second floor and stopped before a closed door. For an instant, Mary thought about the 'one' behind that door, the 'one' who seemed aware of everything happening in Silent Hill, the 'one' who could inform a lost soul of its true purpose...

"Ernest, are you there?"

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for chapter 2, folks. How will Josh react to the knowledge of his death? Find it on the next chapter.<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you thought of it so far.**


	3. Purpose

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 03 – PURPOSE<strong>

It took some moments until Ernest answered to Mary's calling.

"Is that you, Maria?" spoke a male voice across the door.

Mary didn't know Ernest personally, instead her alter-ego Maria did. But since they shared the same origin, their beloved James' feelings, they could sense what each other sensed. That's how Maria came to know of Laura's existence, despite her never meeting the girl personally.

"No, it's Mary." She replied, not fond of being mistaken for her alter-ego, who had attempted to harm her husband. She couldn't blame Ernest though, since they had the same voice.

"Ah yes, the other one. The one James was actually looking for." He concluded, recalling his previous talk with Maria. "What can I do for you, Mary?"

"I brought someone whom I'd appreciate if you could help." She said, slightly pulling Josh towards the door.

As the boy observed the whole scene, he found it quite weird to talk to someone through the door. Why wouldn't this Ernest guy open it and show himself? For an instant, he thought of opening the door, but somehow he had a feeling that it would have been futile. He could just hope this Ernest guy wasn't some loony planning anything bad for him. Regardless of that, the older man continued to speak, in his monotone voice.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Joshua Shepherd, sir." The boy answered. By the voice timbre, Ernest guessed Josh was still a kid.

"Oh, another Shepherd. Is he a relative of yours, Mary?" he directed to the woman.

"Yes, he's my nephew." She responded.

"Hmm, interesting. Your family is a quite problematic one, I daresay." He commented, a bit sarcastically, but the woman ignored it. The talk shifted back to the boy.

"What's your wish, Joshua? Answer sincerely." Ernest questioned. It was a strange question, but whatever.

"I uh, I wanna go home... to see Dad, Mom and Alex." The boy answered, timidly.

"To see Alex? Is that all you want to do?" the older man asked. "Don't you want to take revenge on him? To make him suffer for what he did?"

That last remark shocked Josh. Revenge? Suffer? What was that man talking about? Why would he do such things to Alex? Of course, they had their bickers, but always respected each other. It was like that between any siblings. In fact, Josh almost admired Alex, considering him someone to look up to.

"What are you talking about? I would never do any of those things to Alex." Retorted the rather indignant boy. That man was crazy, he could only be.

Ernest stayed silent for about a minute or so. It was as though he was trying to grasp the situation. As he did, the talk was resumed.

"So you don't remember?" he asked.

"Remember what?" Josh replied.

"What happened on the boat. Maybe it had been so fast you haven't noticed it yet," he paused a bit for the boy to digest the information and then, finally gave the answer. "You've died, boy. And your brother was the responsible."

Both nephew and aunt were astonished at the revelation. For Mary, she knew her younger nephew had been killed, but didn't know it had been by (of all the people) Alex's hands. But thinking better now, since Alex was the only one near Josh at the time of death, it should have been obvious. Once again, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to her.

On the other hand, Josh couldn't believe a thing of it at first. "That's a lie! Alex would never do such a thing!" shouted the incredulous boy.

"Don't you remember what happened after you tried to fetch back your father's ring? The cold, the darkness, the loss of sense of time?" Ernest questioned. "You accidentally had your neck broken at the boat's edge and fell in the lake. You drowned afterwards."

Ernest's words rang a bell in the boy's mind. He suddenly remembered the ring chain snapping as he pulled it. So what this man was telling him didn't sound impossible at all.

"More important, if you weren't dead, you wouldn't be able to see your aunt right there" he proceeded, regarding Mary.

Josh gaped as he glanced up to his aunt. She was dead too? How... and why...?

"Auntie, is he telling the truth?" he asked, quite shocked.

With a sad expression, she turned her face away, trying to not face the boy. "Yes, sweetie. I've passed away long ago," After a pause, turning her face back to him, she continued. "And unfortunately, what Ernest said is true: if you can see me, it just mean you're gone too. I'm sorry, but you can no longer go home, Josh." She sadly explained.

At last, comprehension dawned. Everything begun making sense. His memories, his sensations, Ernest and Auntie's words, nobody searching for him... it couldn't be denied anymore. He had died. And worse, it was his own brother's fault. His brother, his own flesh and blood. Why did he...? How could he..? He knew it was an accident, but still...

Slowly, Josh's doubt turned into anger. His questioning started turning into accusation. Why had Alex taken him to the lake in first place? Why had he mocked him in first place? Why had he snatched Dad's ring from him in first place? Had it been envy? Had it been jealousy for him being the preferred son? Had he done it so he could have their parents' attention only for himself? As those thoughts rushed through his mind, the boy kept his head lowered, his bangs covering the eyes to intentionally hide his expression.

'Why, Alex? Why? I thought we were friends. I thought we were brothers. I truly admired you, but now...' he mentally cursed, clenching his teeth and fists, as a single tear ran past his bangs.

Suddenly, a siren-like echo wailed through the air, followed by the immediate darkening of the entire surroundings. At the same time, Mary heard a ripping sound nearby: it came from the ground under Josh's feet, which started peeling into many snowflake-like pieces. The peeling spread to to the whole room, leaving behind a twisted, rusted version of itself. The mansion, formerly neat, was now a creepy and bloody dimension. The woman knew far too well what it meant: the town's powers were manifesting through the boy's feelings, feelings she also knew too well. After all, she had gone through the same long ago, when she had been murdered by the hands of her most trusted one. It had been those rancorous feelings, combined with James' sexual frustration, that led to the creation of her alter-ego Maria, who acted as a constant reminder of his deeds.

Mary quickly ran to Josh, knelt down and shook him slightly by the shoulders. She wasn't willing to let someone of her family be consumed by anger and become the town's puppet like she did. "JOSH!" she called out. "I know how you're feeling right now. I have once felt the same, but listen to me," she pleaded. "You can't think like that, sweetie. You can't blame Alex for that, it was all an accident."

Her pleas fell in deaf ears, as the boy still kept his head lowered and the sirens wailing. No matter how smart for a kid, he still lacked the emotional control adults had, so anger could easily take over his senses. He had to make Alex pay for his sin, he had to make him suffer. But Mary still had to try to convince him. "Josh, I know your mind is telling you to avenge your death. I know it sounds appealing now, but believe me... it's not worth it! In the end, you'll only end up regretting it. And I'm sure Alex is already suffering for what he had done." Her words indeed weren't empty: she didn't deny to have wished James to suffer too, as a means to atone for her murder. But she wasn't aware of the depth of her husband's remorse, so by the time she and Maria had noticed how far they had pushed him, it was too late. He had committed suicide by driving himself and his car straight into Toluca Lake. She couldn't let a family member repeat the same mistake.

The sirens shut down, but mainly because the whole place had already been corrupted. The boy raised his head, so their eyes could be seen. They burned with anger, slightly moistened by the tears. Mary knew he was simply lusting for revenge.

"Joshua," said Ernest across the door, nonchalant to what had just happened. It wasn't his problem to begin with. "Until your brother atones for his sin, your soul shall remain bound to this town. In order to rest in peace, you have two options: making him repent for his deed by the means of suffering, or truly forgiving him. The final choice is yours." That was the purpose of his awakening, in the end.

An eerie silence fell to the room. No longer Ernest's voice was heard. He was probably finished with it. Only aunt and nephew stayed there, staring at each other, one in anxiety, another in wrath. That's when she decided to break the silence and speak.

"Josh, you shouldn't..."

"I can't, Aunt Mary!" he cut, anger in his voice. "I can't forgive him!"

She would have insisted on talking, but knew it would be no good. He was still a kid, so he wouldn't understand the circumstances of his death. He just had to find a responsible for that. Death was always a complicated issue to explain to kids. But she couldn't just let it go either. If she did, Josh would be only damning himself and Alex, the former due to regret and the latter, guilt. Somehow he had to be convinced.

Mary stood up, but leaned a bit towards the boy. "Josh, before you do anything, I'd like you to meet a few more people. They might make you change your mind." She requested, in a calm tone.

"Auntie, I said I can't..." he replied, with a scowl.

"Please, sweetie. That's all I ask. When we're done with it, if you're still willing to carry out your revenge, then I won't interfere with it. I promise." She pleaded.

Josh wasn't looking forward to. He wanted to find Alex right away and demand retribution. But this lady had been nothing except nice to him. Without her, he wouldn't even know he's been dead, so shouldn't she deserve at least a chance to prove her point?

"OK, Auntie..." he said, a bit dismayed.

The woman smiled. "Come with me. I'll take you to them." She said, taking the boy's hand and led him out the mansion.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, that was the longest chapter so far. Lots of explanations.<strong>

**Now come the most interesting parts: Mary and Josh's talks to these 'other people'. Find more on the next chapter.**

**Please review and tell me what you thought of it so far.**


	4. First Forgiver

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 04 – FIRST FORGIVER<strong>

As they left the residential area of Silent Hill and entered downtown, Mary couldn't avoid noticing the darkened sky and the creepy atmosphere looming all over the town. She knew it was mirroring Josh's current feelings towards Alex and figured out changing it wouldn't be an easy task. She could just hope his state of mind wouldn't materialize itself into the shape of any monsters as none of them had weapons on them.

"Aunt Mary," Josh called, the woman looking down at him. "You said back there you died long ago. How did it happened?" he asked, still rancorous, nonetheless curious about the situation.

His aunt frowned a bit. Eventually he would have brought out that question, so she was prepared. Even so, bringing such sore memories back was never a pleasant thing. She took a deep breath.

"I was very ill, and the man I loved put an end to my suffering." She sadly spoke.

Josh found himself surprised. He had heard it right? A trusted one took out her life? Just like Alex did to him.

"So that means you were killed by..." he said, widened eyes to her.

"Yes, he was my husband." She nodded.

"So everything going on now, it happened before?" he asked, getting more surprised.

"Exactly. Even if he just wanted to finish my pain, I still got angry with him at first. Just like you, I couldn't accept it, I wanted him to pay for that, even if he was already suffering a great deal from his deed. Only later, when I understood his motive, I brought myself to forgive him."

"But if you've already forgiven him, why are you still here? Shouldn't you be resting in peace then?" he questioned, recalling Ernest's words.

"...When I came to realize, his suffering was already unbearable. Before I could finally forgive him, he..." Mary paused a little, feeling an urge to cry, although managing to recompose herself. "He took his own life out of despair. I never wished for that to happen. And because of it, I'm truly regretful."

The boy's face displayed a shocked expression. She really wasn't kidding when she said she understood what he was feeling.

She proceeded. "Because of that, my own soul filled up with guilt. I may have forgiven him, but I couldn't forgive myself for my mistake, so my soul can't rest in peace. Until I do, I'm bound to this town. That's why I'm trying to keep you from committing the same mistake." She explained, hoping it might convince her nephew.

Josh couldn't help but sympathize with his aunt. Her words rang so deep within that even him, despite being a 9-years-old, could understand some of her feelings. He felt genuinely sorry for her. Maybe she was right, maybe he should stop this vengeance issue...

'_No, no,_' a voice inside his mind denied. '_You can't forgive Alex. Not after what he did. Your aunt's husband regretted killing. Alex didn't. He must be right now receiving all the attention you're supposed to get._' Josh didn't know exactly whose voice was that, yet it sounded really convincing. '_And more, she had pushed too far. You don't need to kill Alex, but make him suffer enough to atone for your death._' It continued.

The voice was right, he deserved to have his vengeance.

"Are we there yet?" the boy said, just shoving off what his aunt told him and deciding to stick to his decision.

Mary sighed. For a moment, she thought she could convince him, however as previously stated, it wouldn't be an easy task.

"It's right there." She pointed at a lodging complex in front of them. It was surrounded by walls, with a parking lot at front and multiple doors leading to the guest rooms. At the entrance, a sign read '_Riverside Motel_'. Luckily Josh was too young to understand what people normally did in those places.

As they entered, they headed straight to the room labeled 500. The boy couldn't explain, but he felt an eerie sensation while approaching the door, just like the one he felt in the amusement park's merry-go-round. He wasn't willing to go in there; even so did it anyway when Mary opened the door.

The room was dark, still a figure could be distinguished inside it. Slowly his eyes got used to the darkness, so he could see its features. Soon he wished he hadn't: on the floor, its blood long coagulated, lay a dead creature, so horrifying it was hard even to describe it. It looked like a bulky teethed-head, fused to the wall, with some tentacles hanging on the sides. Before Josh asked what the heck was that, he heard Mary's voice.

"Hello, Richard." She greeted, gazing up at the ceiling. The boy noticed it and gazed up too. To his surprise, there was a man hanging by the neck from there. And more surprisingly, he lowered his head towards them.

"Hello, Mary," he greeted back, noticing Josh with her. "Who's the boy?"

"Another one who had the same fate as us, unfortunately. This is my nephew, Joshua." She introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Joshua. The name's Richard Grady". His appearance was of a middle-aged man, wearing glasses and a suit, thin brown hair, with mustache and beard.

"Uh nice to meet you too," the boy said, his voice faulting a little. Naturally he was perplexed at the sight of a hanged man chatting like nothing was happening. "Sir, are you okay up there?"

Richard chuckled at the remark. "I'm perfectly fine here, Joshua. After all, I passed away long time ago."

Of course, at this point, that kind of revelation wouldn't have impressed Josh anymore.

"So you're dead too, like me and Aunt Mary?" the boy asked, although the answer was quite obvious. Mary however answered for the older man anyway.

"Exactly. And that's the reason why I came here," she said, turning to the hanged man. "Richard, would you mind telling him how did you end up there?"

"I'd be glad to. I've been here for so long, any distraction is certainly welcome..." he paused for a bit and resumed. "I used to have a typical life: wife, son, job... until my beloved Helen started getting delirious. She spoke of devils, people living inside the mirrors, stuff like that. I could handle it, but when she attempted to kill our son, I had no choice except sending her to a sanitarium. I hoped she would get better, but quite the opposite happened: she got more and more insane. Raising alone a child and losing my wife like that was taking its toll on me. One day, returning from my visit to the sanitarium, I concluded I simply couldn't take it anymore, thus I hanged myself in this very room you stand right now." Richard painfully closed his eyes, before continuing to talk.

"After my death, I believed I could finally have some peace of mind. However, as I came to know later, my son felt responsible for my death, and because of that, my soul remained bound to this town. Eventually, he returned to Silent Hill and that would have been my chance of telling him to not blame himself, that I had forgiven him. But his feelings of guilt were simply too strong, what led to the creation of the monster you see right there." Josh's eyes darted to the aforementioned monster, which he had almost forgotten about, with everything going on.

"But you did manage to tell him you had forgiven him, right?" Mary asked.

"I did, but the problem was that I couldn't forgive myself. As I also came to know later, that my son had lived a wretched existence after my death, culminating in becoming a murderer. Newspapers even gave him a name: 'The Butcher'." The word 'murderer' seemed to have shocked Josh a little, a hint of dread coming to his face; he continued to listen nevertheless. "All because there was no one left to take care of him. All because I had chosen the easier path and abandoned him..." the hanged man sadly admitted.

"Now until I can atone for this guilt, I shall remain here, in this very same room, in this very same position it all started. I can only wait for the day I can truly forgive myself for what my son had gone through." He finished.

Mary had already heard his story many times, however she still frowned at that. His past and hers differentiated in some aspects, but they all shared the same reason for being here: an overwhelming feeling of guilt for what they did to their loved ones. A feeling they hoped they could atone for, in the purgatory named Silent Hill.

Josh now had a thoughtful expression, as he was processing what's been told. His aunt noticed it and decided it was time to talk to him, alone. "Thanks, Richard. I sincerely hope you reach your peace someday." She parted.

"Thank you. So do you, Mary." He replied, staring at their retreating backs. Next, both aunt and nephew left the room.

As they walked to the exit, the boy pondered in his mind: Mr. Grady just reinforced what his aunt had told him. Perhaps forgiving would be for the best. What if he ended up feeling the same guilt for hurting his brother? Would he become indefinitely bound to this town like him? He seemed to be here for a really long time...

'_Bullshit!_' shouted that same unknown voice in his mind. '_That man talked of forgiveness, but there was actually nothing to forgive. His son was never to blame, he had nothing to do with what happened to that old man. On the other side, Alex did. He was the one who killed you. You can't compare Alex to that man's son._' The voice argued.

Whoever that voice belonged to, it was right once again, his vengeance was rightful.

"Josh," she called, breaking him from his inner talk. "Are you ready to forgive your brother now, after all Robert had said?" she calmly asked.

The boy frowned, still resented with his sad fate. "No, I'm still angry with him. He must pay."

After all it had been told, his mind didn't change. She sighed, although not in defeat. Her resources hadn't been exhausted yet.

"All right, sweetie. Let's go somewhere else, okay?" she said, taking him to meet the next forgiver.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm considering SH2 'In Water' ending as canon in this fanfic.<strong>

**Who's the next earthbound soul they will meet? Find it on the next chapter.**

**Please review and tell me what you thought of it so far.**


	5. Second Forgiver

**My thanks to Vampuric Spider for the reviews and corrections in the previous chapters.**

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 05 – SECOND FORGIVER<strong>

It's been a while since Mary and Josh had left the town's urban perimeter and entered the woods of Silent Hill. That location, which had been creepy enough before, became even worse as it reflected Josh's current feelings. The many roads around made it look like a maze, but strangely they still seemed to know which direction to take, as though the place was familiar to them, despite the boy never being there.

'Maybe because I've died and become a part of the town itself.' Josh thought, just remembering his own demise and his aunt's and Robert's.

Tracking deeper in the woods, they followed some roads delimited by wooden fences. Someone could say they were heading to a farm or some hillbilly cottage, but the lamps illuminating the path discarded that assumption. That made Josh ponder: how come there were working lamps inside the forest, but none in the town? However he shoved it off his mind, as he recalled no one should seek out logic in Silent Hill. Soon, aunt and nephew made it to a wooden gate.

That's when the boy froze in his tracks. Right in front of him, next to the gate, a really disturbing creature stood: it had no legs, supported instead by its long pale arms, its bulky body covered in dark-brownish fur, but the most frightening feature was its head, which bore two white faces, both resembling sleeping babies. Josh got freaked out for a moment, but surprisingly relaxed soon afterwards. It was odd; he wasn't scared of the monster, what he felt actually was almost... pity.

Slowly he approached the creature, when it suddenly lifted one of its arms. The boy thought for a second it was going to attack, but it just stood there, pointing to Josh and whispering something in a rough voice. "Forgiver" it sounded. He got baffled at the monster's behavior.

"Don't be afraid, Josh," Mary assured. "They're not going to hurt you. Just like the person we came to meet, they're just poor souls somehow bound to the town and can't rest in peace."

"They?" he asked, raising a eyebrow. "Why are you calling it 'they'?"

"I think the person beyond the gate will explain better than me." She said, passing by the double-face, which just let them be, always pointing to the boy nevertheless.

Entering the gate, they arrived at what looked like a large courtyard, some rubbish spread at the sides and the ruins of a building in the middle of the area.

"Auntie, what's this place?" asked a curious Josh.

"It used to be an orphanage, Josh," Mary answered, her tone somber. "That is, before being burned to the ground."

"Burned to the ground?" he suddenly shouted, bewildered. "Who would do such a thing? Did anybody die here?"

Seeing the worried look in her nephew's face, Mary decided to calm him down a little. "Don't worry, sweetie. That was long ago and nobody died here, given it was already abandoned when the fire took place." She assured, smiling at him. That was a lie, however: she knew that a young man named Jasper Gein was burnt alive in this place, that being the cause of the fire in first place, but naturally she wouldn't tell him, as it wasn't relevant at the moment. And scaring Josh out of his wits now wouldn't help.

That helped to sooth things a bit, but as they approached the ruins, the very same eerie feeling the boy had felt in Riverside Motel came back to him immediately. If the reason was also the same, then it would mean another earthbound soul was nearby. That's when he noticed someone sat in the middle of the charred remains. A blond man, with shoulder-length straight hair. He looked in early thirties, clad in a dirty blue jacket. He was hugging his legs, supporting his forehead on the knees, as he mumbled something.

"Please give me... serenity to accept what I cannot change... strength to what I can change... and wisdom to know the difference..." the man kept repeating over and over, between sobs, which made it unclear if he was praying or crying. Whatever it was, it got interrupted by the visitors.

"Hello, Walter," she politely asked, calling for his attention. "Do you have a minute?"

The man stopped mumbling and slowly raised his head, facing the woman. He had a melancholic expression in his eyes and a faint smile. "Of course, Mrs. Sunderland... I got all the minutes you want. I'll still be here for a long, long time." He said, his tone indicating deep grief and sadness. Mary couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for that man's condition, but she refused to show it, for she knew the reason for him to be there. Instead, she gestured to her nephew in order to present him.

"Walter, this is Joshua Shepherd, my nephew," she introduced. "There is a request I'd like to ask you."

"Hello, kid. Walter Sullivan." The older man presented himself to Josh, who just waved back, his widened eyes gazing at the bloodstains on the blue jacket. The boy didn't bother to ask if he was hurt. After all, he had just met a hanged man who seemed alright with that. In fact, it'd be better if he didn't even ponder whether the blood was his or not.

Walter turned to Mary. "So, what's the request you wanted to ask, Mrs. Sunderland?"

"Could you tell Josh a little about your story? I mean, about how you ended up here?" she said. The older man glanced to the boy, when he finally figured out: the kid was just like him, another restless soul bound to Silent Hill. The boy seemed still confused and the woman was probably trying to explain the reason for him to be here.

"Sure, some talking would certainly be nice after so long..." Walter answered, sitting in a more straightened position. He really needed to talk. "Where shall I begin? The first thing I can remember is being raised in an orphanage which used to stand right here," he said, motioning his head to the burnt structures around. "It was called 'Wish House', but despite the name, it was actually a wretched place. It was run by a religious cult of Silent Hill, whose only objective was to teach the orphans their own twisted beliefs." He paused for a bit, then continued.

"One day, one of the cult leaders, a lady named Dahlia, came to the orphanage. She seemed pretty nice at first, as she talked to me about her daughter, who she claimed to be around my age by then. That reminded me I had never met my own mother, so I asked the lady if she happened to know her. And her answer was that my mother was asleep and waiting for me in South Ashfield," Mary shuddered a bit by hearing that name, given it was the town she and James had lived, nonetheless continued to listen. "I was so desperate to see my mother that I took her words to heart. I started believing the apartment in South Ashfield where I was born was actually my mother, only that she was dormant in that form and couldn't be reunited with me."

That last remark made Josh lift an eyebrow: that man actually thought an apartment was his mother? He had already seen people who were unhealthily attached to things, but that was a bit too much. Although he knew he shouldn't be judging that. Unlike the man, he always had his parents beside him, so he didn't know the feeling of being desperately lone. 'Maybe even Alex was feeling like that too.' He mused, a bit of empathy for his brother sparkling in his mind.

"So when I grew older, I decided to awake my mother, following a ritual taught by the cult in the orphanage. However, before I got to perform said ritual, I was killed by someone who would have been part of it," he continued, recalling of a certain guy who lived in Room 302 in South Ashfield Heights. "So I never managed to meet my mother."

"Do you blame this person for separating you from your 'mother'?" Mary asked.

"At first, I did. I blamed him for taking my mother away from me, given he was the one living in the apartment at the time. I blamed him for preventing the ritual from happening..." he replied, under the attentive look of Josh, now rather surprised to learn that man had also lusted for revenge. "But not anymore, as I later came to realize my death had been for best. So I forgave him, in the end." Walter completed.

It made the boy confused, so he decided to ask it. "Why do you take your own death for deserved? Why did you forgive the person who killed you and kept you from meeting your mother... _despite the fact she was actually just an apartment_?" asked Josh, for obvious reasons murmuring the last part loud enough only to himself.

"Because the so-called ritual consisted in collecting 21 sacrifices, at the end of which I could finally be reunited with her. So I..." he said, covering his face in shame with one of his hands. "I started a killing spree in order to gather the victims for these sacrifices."

A shocked expression displayed in Josh's face, followed by one of revolt as those words sank: that man was a murderer. He had killed people? Why did his aunt bring him to meet this guy? How could a man like that talk of forgiveness? His pondering was interrupted as Walter proceeded his talking.

"And that's something I truly regret," he said, as the boy turned to him, a bit surprised by that statement. "Only after my demise, I came to realize that I had been deceived by the cult. That there was actually no way to bring my mother back. That I had taken so many lives for nothing." He completed, his voice filled with grief and his fists clenched.

"Therefore, that's why I forgave him. Had I not been killed, I would have never realized the truth. I would have just ended up more frustrated and, in a fit of rage, probably continued to reap more innocent lives," he concluded. His lips curved in a forced smile. "I can only hope one day he'll come to forgive me as well. Nonetheless, I'm happy he seems to have overcome it: I've heard he lives now with the girl who would have been the 20th victim."

"But if you've already forgiven him, why are still here? Shouldn't you be resting in peace by now?" Josh asked, now feeling less indignant to the former assassin after listening to his words.

"Like I said, I realized the truth too late. Many innocent people had already been killed by my hands before I was put at stop. My soul now is filled with guilt and I shall remain bound to Silent Hill until I can atone for this." The man sadly explained.

"Did you see the creature at the gate?" Walter resumed, pointing at the gate, more specifically regarding the double-face on the other side. The boy nodded. "It's the embodiment of two of my victims, two innocent kids I killed due to my own stupidity. They stay around as a constant reminder of my sins." Now Josh could understand why he felt sorry for that monster: it was only an innocent victim. He glanced to the former assassin.

"So you're now sincerely remorseful for what you did and even forgave the guy who killed you?" The young Shepherd concluded.

"Yes. But until I truly forgive myself for such foolishness, I must stay here... where everything began... to repent." He finished, looking around at the charred remains of Wish House Orphanage.

The same pensive look from before returned to Josh's face. He was now not so sure if he wanted to carry on his revenge, remaining in silence. Mary realized it and decided it was time to talk to her nephew again.

"All right. I guess this is enough. Thanks for giving us some of your time, Walter." She said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder as to inform him they were leaving. In her mind, even if she condemned what that man had done in the past, she knew he was willing to atone and that's what mattered.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Sunderland. Thanks for listening." The man gratefully replied, returning to his previous shrunk position. Both aunt and nephew made their way out, leaving the former murderer to his own thoughts.

As they walked through the woods, Josh pondered about what was said. That man looked really regretful, even if he had been a cold-blooded assassin. Maybe if he took revenge on Alex, if he hurt his brother, he would probably feel as guilty as that man. Anger and despair could drive humans to do things they would regret later. He even forgave the guy who killed him, despite feeling resentful for that at first. Perhaps it would be better if he spared himself from all that pain from the very beginning and just forgive...

"_What are you thinking?_" Josh recognized it as that strange voice in his mind again. "_Once again, there was nothing to forgive. That man got killed because he was trying to kill as well. It's just natural for victims to defend themselves, so his demise was well-deserved. You, on the other hand, didn't deserve to die._" The voice really had a point: Alex wasn't self-defending when he caused Josh's death. His expression changed from doubtful to angry. "_And as I said, you don't have to kill your brother. Just make him suffer and you won't feel guilty._" The voice completed.

The boy had to agree with it once more, but strangely was starting to notice a hint of familiarity in that voice by now.

"Josh, are you now convinced that revenge is not worth it?" Mary asked, breaking him from this thoughts. "You should just let it go and..."

"I'm not," he cut in, shaking his head. "Aunt Mary, are we done with that? Can we go look for Alex now?" he impatiently questioned.

She closed her eyes, feeling a bit frustrated. It wasn't for this time yet. She wished to be more resourceful with words, now more than ever. But a last trump remained.

"Let's meet one more person, sweetie. It'll be the last one, then you are free to do as you please." Was her answer.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm considering SH4 'Escape' ending as canon in this fanfic.<strong>

**Now the last earthbound soul... Will it manage to dissuade Josh from revenge? Find it on the next chapter. And please review.**


	6. Third Forgiver

**Once again, my thanks to Vampuric Spider for the reviews and corrections in the previous chapters.**

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 06 – THIRD FORGIVER<strong>

Josh wasn't willing to return there, but that's where Mary was taking him. The place where this whole journey had started: Lakeside Amusement Park. He couldn't explain why, but despite having already seen so many creepy places, the park still felt much darker than anywhere else in Silent Hill. His distaste grew even more as they headed to a particular attraction: the merry-go-round.

Walking up the stairs to the attraction's center, the same eerie feeling from before abruptly returned. A shudder even rushed through him as they passed by the deformed toy horses. He wasn't scared at all, but still felt a chill piercing through his spine.

"Aunt Mary, did something happened in this place?" he asked, curious about that strange sensation. "It feels so... weird here."

Mary glanced around the attraction for a moment before answering. "The town's powers have manifested in this place twice in the past," she said, regarding the events of a certain police officer attacking a certain man, and a certain girl facing her past in this exact spot. "You're feeling it too, aren't you?" she questioned. The boy nodded.

"The powers of Silent Hill only manifest when negative feelings, like wrath and regret, are involved. That's why those grounds feel so impregnated with taint." Mary explained.

Josh found himself with a grim expression just by thinking how much suffering this town had ever witnessed. Wherever he looked at, there was always someone who had died, someone who had killed, someone who had grieved over something... He had always wondered why his father wanted him to stay away from Silent Hill. Well, now he had an idea: that was a screwed up town. Someone could even say it was Hell on Earth.

The boy was about to ask more about those two events, when he noticed something unusual: a small catwalk in the back of the merry-go-round, leading to an entrance on the wall surrounding the attraction. Who would build such a passage in a place like that?

"That's a secret tunnel. Not many people know about that." The woman explained, before her nephew asked about it.

The entrance leaded to a long and gloomy corridor, followed by some stairs, finally ending in a door, with a strange message written on it: ' _The door is the gate which leads to the Road to Paradise. Embrace the bosom of the Holy Mother. Admit your sins and be forgiven. Eternal tranquility can be yours._' Josh lifted an eyebrow to that, baffled. 'What does it mean? Is it some sort of prayer?' he thought, as his aunt opened the door.

The moment they entered, the boy's jaw dropped in awe: there was an entire church inside the tunnel. And a quite cozy one by the looks. The pews, the stained glass windows, the altar... everything was intact, despite the thin layer of dust accumulated by the years and the long-melted candle wax over the altar. Now he understood the message at the door, although still wondering what a church would be doing inside an amusement park.

His curious nature made him approach the altar, finding over it a book with a strange engraved symbol. Josh could swear to have seen that symbol somewhere else, as he tried to remember it. Sticking his hand into his pocket, he brushed onto something metallic. That's when realization dawned: it was carved on the inner side of his father's ring. He immediately took said artifact out of his pocket and compared the two crests: they were practically identical, save for a few details. Why did his family ring bear the same symbol as this hidden church in Silent Hill? It couldn't be simple coincidence.

"Josh," his aunt called. He turned his head towards the voice, noticing her near a door to the right of the altar. "It's here." She pointed out, opening the door.

The boy followed her inside the room, finding what looked like a confession booth. That structure was familiar to him, given his family was a religious one and every Sunday they would go to a church in Shepherd's Glen. Which religion, he wasn't sure: every time he asked his parents, they would just say 'the religion of God'. It was quite an empty answer, but since he never showed much interest in all that religious stuff, he didn't question further.

Mary walked up to the confessor side of the booth and motioned her nephew to go in. "The person I told you about is inside. I'll be waiting in the chapel when you're done." She said.

"Aunt Mary, won't you stay with me this time?" Josh asked, a bit worried about being alone.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. But what's said inside a confession booth must be kept only to the confessor and the priest," Being raised in the conservative Shepherd family, Mary respected a lot the religious protocols. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." She kindly assured, taking her leave.

Reluctantly, the boy entered the booth and sat down there, remaining silent as if unsure what to do. Until a voice from the other side startled him.

"What can I do for you, my child?" the voice asked. He glanced to the tiny window connecting both sides of the booth to see the attending priest. Through the hole, he could distinguish the man's face: he looked in mid-twenties, glasses, brown hair parted in the middle and a faintly smug smirk in his lips.

"Well," Josh started, carefully choosing the words. He had to admit being a bit nervous without Mary to guide him. "My aunt brought me here so I could talk to you, Father... uh..."

"Vincent. You may call me Father Vincent." The man completed. Normally a priest shouldn't reveal his name during a confession. But heck, they were already seeing each other through the tiny window, so it was no big deal.

"Right. Father Vincent, I have this uh... friend of mine," the boy confessed, trying not to refer directly to himself. Not that Vincent would be fooled by that anyway. "This friend of mine has a brother who kinda... did something very, very bad. It hurt my friend a lot and now he wants revenge on his brother."

"Kinda?" the priest echoed, his tone of voice simultaneously indicating politeness and mockery.

"I mean, his brother didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. But he was at fault for what happened to my friend," the boy explained, a small hint of anger at the last remark. Then he continued. "Is it correct for my friend to go on with his revenge?"

Vincent lifted an eyebrow at that confession. He carefully observed the boy for a while before giving a reply. That's when he realized: the kid was just like him, a lost soul bound to Silent Hill. "May I ask your name, my child?"

"It's Joshua Shepherd, Father." He responded.

It was Vincent's turn to make a surprised face, which startled Josh a little. "'Shepherd' you say? Are you, by any means, related to the founding family of the nearby town, Shepherd's Glen?" he questioned, in a more serious tone.

"Uh yes, I guess. I recall Dad once told me about the town being named after our family, which was one of the founders," he nervously answered. This reminded him of the symbol engraved on the ring. If this man was a priest, he might know the relationship between this church and his family, so he fetched the ring and showed it to Vincent. "Father Vincent, do you know what's this symbol? I saw one similar on the book over the altar." The boy asked, pointing to the inner part of the ring.

"I see," Vincent narrowed his eyes as he recognized the artifact. "You are... were... the spared one."

'Spared one?' Josh confusingly thought. "What do you mean?"

"So you don't know about the agreement of your founding families?" the man questioned, in almost a mocking way. "Well, I guess you wouldn't be told this kind of story anyway." He paused a bit and resumed the explanation. "Your brother was chosen to be the sacrificial lamb... and you, to carry the family blood on."

But that explanation only made the boy more confused. "Sacrificial lamb? Carry the family blood on? What are you talking about, Father?"

Vincent sighed: that kid was completely oblivious to everything, so he would have to explain from the beginning. "Are you acquainted with the religious cult of Silent Hill?" he asked.

The memory of his last meeting suddenly came to Josh's mind. "Cult of Silent Hill? Uh, well... before I came here, someone called Walter had mentioned something about it."

"Oh, so you've met Walter? Good, that's going to shorten the explanation." Vincent assured. "The fact is: the founding families of Shepherd's Glen had been once part of the cult. But you must understand nobody just leaves the cult: they wouldn't allow it. So in order to keep the wrath of God away from the town, those families made a draconian agreement: every fifty years, each of them must sacrifice one of their children as a proof of worship."

Josh's blood froze in his veins by hearing that. The cult which created an assassin like Walter was the very same cult his parents professed? The 'religion of God' they had taught him actually practiced human sacrifices? But the priest's next statement was the worst of all.

"And, given you possess the ring, your family might have chosen you to continue the lineage, while your brother would be the sacrifice, the one to appease the wrath of God." He concluded.

The boy's heart clenched as comprehension sank. Alex was going to die? And by Dad's hands? That was unbelievable! Dad would never do such... but then the facts rushed to his mind: was it the reason his parents favored him in comparison to Alex? Was it because he was going to die soon? Mom and Dad were always kind to him, much the opposite to Alex. Even a 9-years-old like himself could see he was being favored. Along with those thoughts, another doubt came to him.

"Father Vincent, is it possible Alex might have killed me because he knew he was going to be sacrificed?" Josh anxiously asked, dropping off the talk about a 'friend of his'. Anxiety made him forget. And unbeknown to him, he was also giving away that the 'bad thing' he had masqueraded before was actually his own murder.

"I think it's unlikely, because if I were in your parents' shoes, I would have saved no efforts to hide the truth from my children, especially if one of them was going to be killed. And even if your brother was the sole surviving child, he would still be sacrificed, as God wouldn't accept a death not done by your father's hands. Probably it was just an accident." Vincent opined.

Dread was visibly displayed in Josh's face. Now everything made sense: his father's prohibition to go to Silent Hill, Alex's unfair treatment, the secrecy surrounding his family's religion, the ring's crest, Dad's constant trips to this town... everything had to do with that mysterious cult. For a moment, all the revenge issue was utterly forgotten: the only thing in his current mind was horror and revolt.

Vincent noticed the kid's distress and interrupted his pondering. "Joshua, by your confession, I believe you expect me to dissuade you from revenge." He reminded, getting the boy's attention. "Well, if what's been said is not enough, maybe if I tell some of my personal experience might do." The priest cleared his throat.

"I think what I did before my demise might be a good start: I used to be a priest for the cult of Silent Hill," Josh narrowed his eyes at that revelation and was about to say something when Vincent cut in. "And before you say anything, let me state it's been left in the past. I no longer have any bonds to that order, despite being stuck here in this church." He defended, lifting his palm. "And everything I said before is true. As a soul in redemption, I can't lie."

The young Shepherd still had doubts about that man, but continued to listen. "As I was saying, I used to be a priest for that cult. My job was to rebuild that religion from the ground, so I essentially looked out for more believers and donations for our cause. In some of those occasions, I came to know figures like Walter and even your father: Adam Shepherd, if I recall." The boy was a bit surprised to learn this man had ever met his father, but considering how many times he had gone to Silent Hill, it shouldn't have been news to him.

"However, as the cult grew and gained more influence, some members started to radicalize. They began twisting the original beliefs to fit their own. And among those people, stood the person who had killed me: Claudia Wolf." He stated, his voice for the first time showing some discomfort.

"Claudia and I grew up together, we were almost siblings, despite not being blood-related. But her father, Leonard Wolf, was a terribly abusive person. Often I witnessed him brutally beating her up, during the cult's teachings..." he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "His cruelty is still etched in my mind, even after these many years. However, there was nothing I could do about it; I was only a kid back there.

"Besides me, Claudia only had another friend: a girl named Alessa Gillespie. They sympathized with each other, because Alessa's mother, Dahlia, was abusive towards her as well."

That last name brought once again memories to Josh of his previous meeting. "Walter also mentioned a lady named Dahlia, who had lied to him about his mother abandoning him." The boy recalled.

"Did he? Well, as you can see, lousy parenting seems to be the rule in Silent Hill," Vincent sarcastically pointed out. "But as I said, Claudia, Alessa and I were good friends, until Alessa's abrupt disappearance. We looked for her, but the only answer we got from her mother was that she was creating a 'paradise' to us. I never believed that nonsense, but Claudia seemed to take it to heart. And that's when our point of views started to diverge.

"Little by little, Claudia and I started hating each other, as she grew more and more fanatical of the religion. Things just got worse when Dahlia passed away and Alessa was adopted by an outsider. Believing her friend to had been kidnapped, Claudia joined the cult and later became the high priestess. It just went further down from there on: she started pursuing and killing those who opposed her religious views, even some of the moderate members. Her madness culminated in the murder of the man who had adopted Alessa, leaving the poor girl alone in this world." Even after hearing the words 'kill', 'murder' and 'death' so many times by now, they still gave Josh a nasty taste.

"Alessa, however, wanted revenge for that," That remark caught the young Shepherd's attention. "I even tried to help her with that, given my hatred for Claudia at the time. But that wasn't the whole reason: the truth is... I actually felt guilty for her adoptive father's murder. And if that woman wasn't stopped, Alessa would eventually die too." He admitted.

"Die? How would she die?" asked the boy.

"That's not important. You just have to know Alessa would have died if Claudia carried on her intentions." Vincent naturally thought to be better omitting certain details, like Alessa reincarnating into a baby's body and carrying God inside her womb. That would probably be too much for Josh to handle.

"So, because of my aid to Alessa, Claudia took me for a traitor and ended up stabbing me to death," he stated, as Josh's eyes widened in shock at such a gruesome death. "But, despite feeling resentful at first, I don't hold any grudges against Claudia... anymore."

The shocked expression in the boy's face switched to a confused one. "Why not? Didn't you hate her? Why did you forgive such a horrible person?" Josh argued.

"Because I'm partially responsible for her being a horrible person. Didn't I tell? I watched her father abuse her and did nothing. I watched her fanaticism grow every day and did nothing to stop it. I knew of her assassination plot and remained oblivious to it. I cared only about myself and, in the end, I caused my own demise.

"I know many things were just out of my control. But perhaps things could have turned out differently if I had at least tried to do the smallest of changes. Perhaps Claudia and I would have been still friends. Perhaps Alessa's father could have been still alive," Vincent took out the glasses and his eyes now displayed a saddened look. "Alessa didn't carry her revenge out, but I've heard she's doing fine after that trauma. However I still feel guilty for what happened... for not even trying to stop Claudia when I had the chance. Therefore, my fate is to stay bound to Silent Hill, until I atone for my mistakes." He completed.

Josh simply didn't know what else to think. All that information was simply overwhelming his mind: the truth about his family, the cult of Silent Hill, Vincent's story... so much that the last thing he could worry about now was his own revenge. He needed time to process all that had been said, he needed to be alone for awhile. So he decided to finish up the confession.

"Father Vincent, I uh... guess that's all. Thanks for everything. Amen." The boy concluded, getting up.

"Amen, my child. You're welcome to return anytime." The priest blessed.

Josh made his way out of the booth. As the boy headed towards the chapel, a mental talk to his inner 'self' initiated.

"_You're not trusting that man, are you? After all, he was a priest for that cult of Silent Hill._" The voice argued.

'He said souls in redemption can't lie. And all the souls we've met so far said the truth. Why wouldn't Father Vincent?' he mentally argued back.

"_But he worked for that cult nevertheless. They killed people. He deserved death._"

'He didn't. He's to blame for not stopping this Claudia woman when he could, but he never killed anyone. He even forgave her for his murder.'

"_And he even helped that Alessa girl to have revenge. Why can't you do the same?_"

The voice started to seem desperate.

'He said Alessa didn't have her revenge. And that she's doing fine now. Just like the guy who was almost killed by Walter. Maybe they're right, maybe I shouldn't dwell on the past.'

"_It doesn't change the fact your brother murdered you._" The voice spat, changing the subject in an attempt to re-ignite Josh's anger.

'Alex would never willingly do such a thing to me. He was probably trying to scare me, feeling frustrated for being treated so harshly by Mom and Dad, but he would never kill just to have their attention. If someone's at fault, it's that cult. I mean, what kind of sick-minded people force parents to sacrifice their own children? I can't even imagine if I were the chosen one instead of Alex and were treated so poorly just because I would be sacrificed soon.'

"_But he..._" the voice desperately tried to argue, just to be cut in by Josh.

'Stop! Who are you anyway? Why do you keep bugging me? Leave me alone!' The voice abruptly fell in silence.

As the boy returned to the chapel, he saw Mary sat at the pews. She acknowledged his presence as well and approached her nephew.

"So, Josh. How was there?" she asked, hoping to know his choice.

The boy stared at the floor in silence for a few moments. He couldn't ignore the truth anymore. Not after seeing so many lost souls regretting what they had done. If he insisted on that, maybe he would end up joining them in their limbo. Perhaps it was time to let the past go and move forward. Finally he proceeded to speak.

"Aunt Mary... I guess you were right. I should..."

"_NO, I'LL NOT ACCEPT IT!_" the mysterious voice suddenly shouted, interrupting their talk. Sounds of sirens echoed through the air.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Spooky cliffhanger! Who's the voice inside Josh's mind? Find it on the next chapter.<strong>**

****My thanks to Battleangel911, who suggested the idea of Vincent's ghost inside the confession booth.****

****This chapter may have sounded a bit confusing, so any doubts just ask me.****


	7. Unacceptance

**One chapter to go. Those last two chapters were the most enjoyable to write.**

**I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 07 – UNACCEPTANCE<strong>

As the siren sounds got louder and louder, the surrounding area darkened. Next, the floor, the walls, the pews... the entire place started to peel into tiny snowflake-like pieces, which extinguished in the thin air. It was happening again: the powers of Silent Hill were manifesting, making the town's other side know to them. Josh and Mary fearfully stared around at the changing surroundings.

What had been left behind, however, wasn't a twisted version of the church. Instead, loomed an open space, although only infinite darkness in all directions. The sole distinguishable feature was the floor under their feet: a circular arena, composed of rusty iron grids, under which some rotating fans could be seen. Oddly enough, anything inside the arena radius could be clearly seen, despite the lack of a visible source of light. Mary had been in Silent Hill for quite a time, but this place was entirely new even to the her.

"I will not accept your choice, Joshua Shepherd." A voice suddenly spoke from the darkness, startling them both. The young Shepherd immediately recognized the voice as the one that had been whispering to his mind since the journey's beginning.

"You... you're that voice inside my head." The boy stated. His aunt had no idea what he meant with that remark, but before she could question about it, they heard approaching footsteps on the metallic floor. They turned to the sound's direction and a figure showed himself before them. Still cloaked in darkness, its features were not visible yet.

"You can't forgive Alex. He must atone for his acts. These are the town's rules." The figure proclaimed, as it stood outside the arena.

"Who are you? Why have you bugged me all this time?" Josh shouted, angry at the mysterious being. Mary stayed silent: she couldn't see well the person, but an uncomfortable feeling of dread formed inside her. It was like this situation was familiar to her, although she couldn't tell why.

"Who I am?" the figure echoed in a mocking tone, slowly approaching them, its features being gradually revealed by the light. First they noticed its small frame, resembling a boy. Then they saw its clothes: an orange T-shirt, brown shorts and gray tennis shoes. Finally its face came into sight: it was just like Josh's! The only difference were his eyes, who displayed a more sinister look. "I am you."

The young Shepherd's eyes widened in shock. Shock being an understatement, he was at a complete loss for words. His mouth only managed to mutter some disconnected sounds as he pointed at his 'twin'. Now he could understand why he could recognize so well the voice: it was just like his own.

Mary was also shocked, though for a different reason. She had realized why that feeling of dread was so familiar to her. It had happened the same to her in the past, when her anger, added to James' feelings, led to the creation of her own 'twin'. An embodiment of the town's powers, whose only purpose was to make sure James compensated for his sins. She immediately remembered her alter-ego Maria. And now it was happening to her nephew.

"Come with me, Josh. Together, we shall seek justice for your death." The evil version offered, reaching out his hand to the young Shepherd.

"No, I don't wanna. I don't wanna hurt Alex. He didn't do it on purpose. I... I forgive him." The boy nervously replied, already recomposed from the initial shock.

The version just smirked smugly. "People can't be forgiven for something they don't even remember." At the baffled look on Josh's face, he elaborated. "Let it be known that he's forgotten about your death. He doesn't even know you're dead."

This revelation left Josh surprised. So much that he actually got in denial. "You're lying! There's no way Alex would forget such a thing." He accused.

"Oh, but he did. And worse, he's not even in Shepherd's Glen anymore to mourn for you. You can go see by yourself, if you don't believe me." The doppelganger assured, in a taunting tone. Despite it, his words held such a steadiness that Josh doubted he was lying.

'Alex... forgot about my death?' the boy's mind raced. Slowly, his will of forgiveness was slipping away, giving in place to rancor again. The version's smirk widened as he had successfully planted the seed of doubt. Just pushing a little further and the kid would be coming along with him.

"Let's go, Josh. The time has come." He beckoned.

That's when Mary intervened.

"Where's Alex then?" the woman demanded. The 'twin' narrowed his eyes at her; he wasn't expecting her intrusion at all.

"Does it matter? He doesn't remember what..."

"Where's Alex?" she cut in. "You said he's not in Shepherd's Glen, so where's he?" Mary was aware that 'Josh', being an avatar of the town's gods, had to answer their questions honestly. He could omit the truth, but not lie. The little Shepherd stared at him, waiting for the answer, the doppelganger didn't like the way things were heading to.

"He was sent to a mental hospital." He just spat with disdain.

Josh felt his blood (or whatever he had inside) run cold. It was as though each piece of information he got was even more shocking than the last one. 'Alex's in the hospital? But why? Is it because of me?'

"Josh, don't listen to him. I know what may have happened," she turned towards her stunned nephew. The young Shepherd gazed at her, curious. "It's called post-traumatic stress. When a person experiments some kind of heavy trauma, the mind suppresses the memory in order to keep itself sane. It happened the same with my husband after my death. If Alex had to go to a mental hospital, it just proves he truly regrets what he's done. He had already suffered enough for your death." She explained.

The boy, of course, didn't catch much of the first part of her explanation. Nonetheless, the last part appeared to have confirmed what he was suspecting. His older brother must have grieved greatly if he had to be in a hospital. It had never been his intention to cause his death, just as Josh had never really wanted to punish the brother he always admired. Her words seemed to bring reason back to the boy, as the expression in his face soothed. On the other hand, realizing he was losing his edge, the version's face turned into a scowl.

"You don't have a choice, Josh..." his 'twin' claimed, his voice turning eerily rougher. "You can't defy the laws of Silent Hill." Was his last sentence, before his arms started to abnormally swell. Aunt and nephew immediately backed away from the twisted version, as his limbs continued to expand.

Suddenly, long metallic appendages burst from his swelled arms. The appendages tips reached at the floor and lifted the body on, making him resemble a giant spider. The metallic joints grated with each movement. His body itself started to bloat too, to such an extend that his clothes were ripped off. His chest area mutated into female breast-like protuberances, the skin turned paler and, most disgusting, a black hose emerged from his genital area and connected itself to the mouth. But what horrified Josh the most was the creature's face: it had morphed into his own mother's. The resulting monster looked like a pale pregnant Lilian Shepherd with six metallic claws instead of arms.

Both aunt and nephew stared in horror at the doppelganger's real form. Never before had they seen such a disturbing and hideous creature, not even the ones that Mary had spotted lurking around Silent Hill. The monster advanced towards Josh, but Mary put herself between them, in an attempt to protect her nephew. But in vain; with a quick swing, the monster slammed her out of the way and grabbed the boy with its two frontal claws.

The young Shepherd struggled and yelled, but was unable to get out of the hold, as the grinding claws brought him closer and closer to the monster's body. The last thing he could remember was being slowly absorbed into the creature's disgusting belly, just as his whole world turned black.

Lying on the floor, Mary could only helplessly observe the gruesome scene before her.

'I failed...' she thought sadly.

.

The calm waters of Toluca Lake observed from the Rosewater Park were a soothing view. The shrouding fog might have seemed eerie to some, but there were those who managed to find beauty on that too. They would call it 'mysterious', even 'romantic'. The perfect scenario for someone who wished to forget about their concerns and pains.

Someone like Mary. Leaning on the waterfront fence, she admired the lake she had once visited with her beloved James. It had been brief, but the peace of mind she had felt back then was still etched in her memories. And it was exactly that peace of mind she was trying to reproduce now. Of course, it was harder without James by her side this time.

She sighed at the thought of James. It brought her happy memories, but sore ones as well. She remembered that his body still lied somewhere inside those waters, as the outside world still labeled him as a missing person. She remembered her remorse over her husband's suicide, that being the reason she was still bound to this land. And, most recent, she remembered failing to keep her younger nephew from committing the same mistake as her.

Mary couldn't stop worrying about Alex too. If things went on like before, her older nephew would very soon depart from the living world as well, since Josh's forgiveness no longer mattered to the town's gods. Guilt now overwhelmed her mind... guilt for James' death and guilt for not being able to protect her family. She had failed them all.

'Maybe I'm destined to remain bound to Silent Hill for all eternity.' She thought, a gloomy look in her face.

She didn't know for how long she stayed there, until the sound of footsteps was heard. She glanced at the noise source and her eyes widened at whom: Richard Grady, _walking on his feet_.

"Richard, how did you manage to...?" she asked, surprised at the sight.

"The hanging rope?" the man completed, smiling. "My time has finally arrived, Mary. I just dropped by to say good-bye."

That remark surprised her even more. "Your time has come? You mean..."

He only nodded.

"But how?" she asked, half-curious, half-admired.

"I've seen my son," he answered. "He seems really fine now. It looks like he has finally overcome his past, despite what I caused to him. After all those years, seeing Travis like that finally brought peace to my soul. At last, I can leave this place."

The woman smiled cheerfully; she was genuinely happy for him. Out of all the lost souls, Richard was probably the one who had been around for the longest. And now he could finally leave the town.

"I'm happy for you, and for your son. This time, you can have your well-deserved rest." She complimented.

"Thanks, Mary. I hope for your day to come soon. So, farewell." He concluded, making his way out. She watched his retreating back, until he halted a few steps away and turned back. "Ah, there's something I forgot to tell you," he stated, getting the woman's attention.

"Your nephew was together with my son when I saw him. Alex is his name, right? I guess he was taking a ride to Shepherd's Glen or something."

For a split second, that information cheered her up, just to sadden her afterwards. Alex's return only meant his suffering would start very soon. So she just leaned back on the fence, downhearted.

"Thanks for telling me, Richard. But there's nothing I can do for him." She admitted.

The man felt a little bad for leaving her in this condition, but he had to go and there was nothing he could do either, so he just headed back to the park exit. Nevertheless, once again he halted and spoke.

"You know, Mary. Even if you couldn't keep Joshua from falling into darkness, it doesn't mean you can't help... in another way." Were his last words, before his figure gradually vanished in the thin air.

The woman was confused at first, but after pondering about what was said, she finally caught the message.

"Another way?" she muttered. "I think it's worth a try."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>What does Mary intend to do now? Will she finally be free from Silent Hill? Find it on the next and last chapter.<strong>**

**This is a short chapter and could have been easily merged with the next chapter, but I decided to separate them to create some suspense.**

**I've intended to make Amnion's transformation just as Maria's before the boss fight in SH2. But I think it turned out better this way.**

**I'm considering SH0 'Good' ending as canon in this fanfic.**


	8. Redemption

**Last chapter! This was my favorite. I hope it is appreciated.**

**And for the last time: I do not own Silent Hill. It belongs to Konami.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 08 – REDEMPTION<strong>

****Shepherd's Glen Police Station****

Inside the barricaded police building, the sounds of gunfire echoed through the entire place. At its main hallway, an African-American local officer unloaded shotgun shells at all directions. Deputy Wheeler was surrounded by strange hostile creatures, humanoid in body, but bearing pendulum-shaped heads with sharp edges, which they swung sidewards in an attempt to chop the policeman. Just a few minutes earlier, Wheeler had been separated from Alex Shepherd when the ceiling collapsed under the weight of another huge creature, the rubble falling between them. Now he was on his own to handle the monsters.

"Dammit, they're too many!" the man cursed, as he finished one of the creatures, but with many more to come. Shot after shot, he realized to be fighting a lost battle. Cornered against the wall, almost empty of ammo and those axe-heads still advancing, the situation look dire. Sweat dropped from his forehead, as he kept on firing nevertheless. If he died, he was going to die fighting; he was a law enforcer after all.

His last shell was gone. Now with only the shotgun barrel to use, he raised it over his head, ready to bash it on the attackers. "Ya wanna a piece o'me? Come and get it!" he threatened, but his voice visibly shaking, as he knew it wouldn't help much against those huge blades.

But suddenly a noise was heard. A noise resembling wing flaps. Wheeler had no time to guess, when a black cloud invaded the hallway and shrouded the monsters. Strange enough, the axe-heads seemed to be suffering due to the cloud, as they growled and jolted in pain. That's when he figured out it was no cloud, it was a swarm of moths, black moths. And to add to his horror, the insects were literally chewing on the monsters, like a shoal of piranhas.

The policeman couldn't understand what was going on, but the moths seemed to be attacking only the monsters. So he took this chance to run past them and make his escape, not before quickly dropping by the armory for some weapons and ammo. As he left the building though, a thought was stuck in his mind.

'What were those moths? And where did they come from?'

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Shepherd's Glen sewers<strong>**

She had just escaped a dangerous situation in the police station lot, to fall into another. Running through the gloomy and smelly corridors of Shepherd's Glen sewer system, a young woman tried to flee from her pursuers. She was wearing a black sport jacket over a red top and gray pants, her blond hair tied in a short ponytail.

A few minutes earlier, Elle Holloway was together with her childhood friend Alex Shepherd. However, they were forced to split up when she went through a gate with no way to lift from her side. So Alex had to find another way to rejoin her. Since she was alone and carried no guns with her, she could only hope to not encounter any monster... which unfortunately happened.

Now she was running away from a strange humanoid creature with scythes-like blades instead of limbs and the head between the legs. Eventually she arrived at a large chamber with only three ways: back the one she had come from, another in front of her and one large air duct in the ceiling, which she obviously couldn't reach. Elle headed to the passage in front, but stopped in her tracks when another of those bladed-limbs appeared right there. She tried to go back, but her previous pursuer appeared as well. She was cornered.

Her heart pounded hard in her ribcage, as she leaned against the chamber wall, eyes widened at the two monsters slowly approaching her.

'Am I going to die... like this?' was the only thought in her mind.

All of sudden, a metal scrapping sound was heard from the air duct above them. Elle gasped when a long black tentacle with sharp tip emerged from said entrance and pierced through one of the bladed-limbs' head, killing it instantly. Then, in a blink of eyes, the tentacle wrapped itself around the other creature and pulled it to the duct. The girl could only hear inhuman shrieks as blood splashed from the duct to the ground.

She was horrified, but at the same time, relieved for being saved from certain death. That relief, however, only lasted until the tentacle returned and wrapped itself around her too. She let out a cry, but before she could struggle to get out of the hold, it quickly pulled her inside the air duct. Elle instinctively shut her eyes tight and prepared herself for the worst, when the tentacle abruptly just let go of her.

When the girl opened her eyes again, she was still in the sewers, but on an upper level, next to some stairs leading up to a manhole. The moment she exited the manhole, she sighted Shepherd's Glen Town Hall, her mother's workplace. Her lips curved a smile.

'What a lucky shot! I'll go see if Mom's in the office and...' That's when realization sank: Alex was still in the sewers, with all those monsters lurking around. She walked back to the manhole, intending to go down and help her friend, but halted as another thought came to her mind: there wasn't really much she could do to help him; she didn't have any weapons on her. Besides... she almost got herself killed, for crying out loud. Maybe Alex would stand a better chance of getting out alive if he didn't have her around to be protected.

Elle felt dismayed to just leave her friend down there, but it would actually be more useful to go look for help. And if she went back to the sewers, she might not be able to leave again. Which reminded her: how was she able to leave in first place? What was that tentacle-thing?

'Well, what or whoever that was, thanks for saving me.' She gratefully thought, glancing at the manhole once more before striding to the Town Hall.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Silent Hill Overlook Penitentiary<strong>**

While exploring the penitentiary, Alex and Wheeler found Judge Holloway strapped to a chair in one of the building's chambers. They ran to release her, fearing the cult of Silent Hill might be planning to execute her. The moment she got free, Elle's locket fell from Alex's pocket.

"What is that? Where did you get it?" the judge asked, recognizing the object.

"It's Elle's," Alex answered. "She said she took this from you so... I guess you should have it back."

"This isn't mine. It belonged to Nora." She corrected.

"Nora?" asked the confused young man.

"They turned on the gas..." Wheeler tried to warn, just before being suddenly grabbed by something and pulled into the chamber wall.

"Wheeler!" Alex shouted, running in his aid. He managed to grab the policeman's arm and tried to pull him out, but to no avail, as he got pushed to the floor.

The deputy struggled to free himself of whatever had caught him. Inside the wall was really dark, so he couldn't exactly see who (or what) his captor was. He only knew it had many arms, as he felt multiple hands restraining him. This, together with the place narrowness, made it really hard for Wheeler to escape. When he felt a pair of hands grabbing and squeezing his neck, he knew it was the end...

Hadn't it been for a sharp tentacle appearing out of nowhere and stabbing one of the choking hands. The abrupt pain made the captor release the officer. Before the strangler was able to recover, the tentacle wrapped itself around Wheeler's arm and firmly pulled him out of the creature's grasp.

The shocked policeman got dragged inside the walls until the tentacle pulled him out of a ventilation shaft, simply letting go of him afterwards. Wheeler fell soundly on the floor, letting out a small grunt. The landing was rough, but at least he was saved from that 'strangling thing'. He got up and looked around the chamber he had just arrived, but whoever had helped him was no longer there.

'It happened again. Some mysterious event ended up saving my life.' He recalled. A smirk displayed in his face. "Hey, whoever did that! If ya can hear me, thanks a lot!" he said out loud.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Shepherd's Glen streets<strong>**

A manhole in one of Shepherd's Glen streets opened up from the inside. Stepping out of it, came Alex. He had a melancholic, but serene, look on his face. He had finally recalled his past sin, but managed to overcome his brother's death and forgive his father. He started to limp, due to a leg injury caused by Judge Holloway.

Coming out of the fog, he noticed Elle and they embraced each other in relief.

"Elle. You're okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. I think so," Elle replied, then asked. "What did you see in there?"

"What I needed to." Was his only answer. They proceeded to leave the town, the young man leaning on the girl for support.

Little they knew that someone else was watching them. Behind a nearby tree, Mary observed her nephew and his friend making their escape, weary, but safe. However, what gladdened her the most was the fact Alex had finally put his brother's soul to rest, by defeating the embodiment of the resentful feelings created by Silent Hill.

Given that all this nightmare had come from Alex's own guilty conscience, she couldn't help him out directly. But she could at least help out the people who supported him; that was the message Richard was trying to pass. Mary still felt bad for her own brother and sister-in-law, not being able to prevent their demises, but she knew their souls would be at least resting in peace, since her nephew had already forgiven them.

'Alex, now you can live your life, free from the ghosts of the past.' She mentally reassured.

Suddenly, a strange sensation dawned. Her body felt lighter and her mind, peaceful. As though all worries had been purged from her heart. That's when she realized: her body was becoming translucent, slowly fading away, just like Richard's. She just closed her eyes, as she vanished for complete.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Shepherd house<strong>**

Limping up the stairs, Alex had decided to drop by home to fetch a few things before leaving Shepherd's Glen for good. Elle and he would start life anew, so he needed to pack a few stuff, like clothing, medicines and food. However, the moment he had arrived home, he noticed a trail of wet footprints up the stairs and went check it.

The trail led up to his and Josh's old room, so he opened the door. As he entered, his eyes widened in astonishment: sat on the bed, holding a Polaroid camera, in the same attire as his death moment, was Josh. The older Shepherd hardly had time to say anything when his brother lifted the camera.

"Smile!" was the only thing Josh said, before vanishing in the thin air, leaving behind only a picture of Alex's surprised face.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Unknown place<strong>**

Standing over an endless green-lush field, under an azure sky and observing the leaves shaking at the breeze's blow, Mary admired all that beauty. The weather was cool, but at the same time, a warm light bathed the entire place, which was strange, since there was no visible source of light anywhere. It was indeed a vision of Heaven.

'Looks like my time has arrived too.' She calmly thought. She was happy to finally leave the soul purgatory named Silent Hill.

All of sudden, a voice came from behind her. A male voice.

"Mary?"

Recognition immediately fell onto her. That was a voice she knew way too well. A voice she had wished to hear again for all those years. Slowly, Mary turned around, her eyes widening and her jaw slightly dropping at the sight.

It was him. In the exact same way she remembered him: the tawny-blond parted hair, the green eyes, the olive jacket and a gentle smile. Her lips mirrored the same gentle smile, her eyes displaying a nostalgic look and a lone tear falling down her face, just as she uttered a single word.

_James..._

THE END.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>That's it, folks! End of story! C'est fini! Das ist die Ende! I'm considering SHH 'SmileGood' ending as canon.****

****This was one of my first fanfics and I've appreciated the readers' patient and interest on my work. My intention was to create a story which somehow connected some characters and events of all Silent Hill games (except for Shattered Memories, which is not canon, and Downpour, which is yet to be released), so I used SH2 and SHH plot similarities as a common ground to develop this story.****

****I always tried to remain faithful to the games' canon, so I think the hardest part was choosing which characters would be the lost souls to whom Josh and Mary would talk: obviously I couldn't use characters who were still alive, like Heather and Travis. And those souls needed to have some sort of 'dark past', something they regretted doing and were atoning for. So my final choice ended up being Richard Grady, Walter Sullivan and Vincent.****

****I'd like to give my special thanks to my main reviewers, Vampuric Spider and Tony Branston. Your reviews were very much appreciated and helped me greatly to improve my writing skills.****

****I'd also like to give thanks to reviewers stepharoo momo morris13 and Etcha. Just like the previous, your reviews encouraged me to keep on writing this story.****

****To non-reviewers and future reviewers, thanks for the interest and I look forward for your reviews.****

****Stay tuned for my future works.****

****Best regards.****

****~GlaringEyes.****


End file.
